Packaging with corner saddle means



j July 28, 1959 D. R. LANE 2,896,832

PACKAGING WITH CORNER SADDLE MEANS Fig \. AN' E. LANE INVENTOR.

BY MJ. TTNEY July 28, 1959 D. R. LANE 2,896,832 v PACKAGING WITH CORNER SADDLE MEANS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 5, 1955 u n 0o J0 tg f\ x..-

\ f\ A I Q m N) o- 5 m l] v \L EAN E. LANE INVENToR.

N Y l [L1 BY 19; u m

ATTRNEY July 28, 1959 D. R. LANEv `2,896,832

' PACKAGING WITH CORNER SADDLE MEANS Filed July 5, 1955 l 5 sheets-sheet s i DAN I?. LANE H6 H7 INVENTOR.

F l E v By ,9, A4,

g' I ATTURNEY July 28, 1959 D. R. LANE 2,896,832

PACKAGING WITH CORNER SADDLE MEANS l Filed July 5, 195s 5 sheets-sheet 4- v DAN E. LANE JNVENToR.

BY A). mi ATTURNEY July 28, 1959L D. R. LANE PACKAGING WITH CORNER SADDLE MEANS 5 Sheets-Shet 5 Filed July 5, 1955 DAN E. LANE INVENTOR.

By A4,

TTHNEY United States Patent O PACKAGING WITH CORNER SADDLE MEANS Dan R. Lane, Dallas, Tex., assignor to Lane Container Company, Dallas, Tex., a corporation of Texas Application July `5, 1955, Serial N0. '519,854

6 Claims. (Cl. 229-14) This invention relates to the art of packaging and more particularly to the packaging of articles of rectangular hexahedron configuration, either of a unitary character or formed of multiple elements such as a stack of Vrectangular glass plates of uniform dimension.

In a more specific aspect the invention pertains to a corner saddle or cushion for protectively packaging such an article.

In packaging of articles subject to breakage or damage in handling and shipping it has been proposed in applicants prior application S.N. 491,724, now Patent No. 2,861,681 for Container Means for Frangible Plates to provide a container and corner elements for a glass plate in which the edges of the glass plate bear against a substantial portion of the surfaces of the corner elements. The plate is then supported with the plane surfaces thereof in spaced relation from the sides of the container. By the present invention there is provided a corner cushion or saddle for packing articles of rectangular hexahedron configuration in which each corner cushion provides a real support for four sides of the article of maximum bearing surface. By way of example it is often desirable and convenient to ship a stack of Window glass plates in a single container without the necessity of individually packaging or otherwise protecting each of the sheets separately. In order to provide a protective package that will permit shipping and handling of a stack of glass without breakage or chipping is a problem the solution of which may not immediately be apparent. However, applicant has provided a suitable fiberboard corner saddle which, when employed at each of four corners of a stack of glass plates and then nested in a suitable iberboard container will adequately protect the glass from damage, At the same time suflicient strength is embodied in the corner saddles that bearing loads in excess of ten thousand (10,000) pounds on a given package may be withstood without collapse of the saddle itself. Further, glass sheets or plates thus packaged may be subject to relatively rough handling Without undue deformation of thecontainer or damage to the glass.

More particularly in accordance with the present invention there is provided a corner saddle for supporting four sides of a rectangular article which comprises corrugated berboard sheet folded to form a rectangular tube of length substantially greater than a rst dimension of the article and of width and depth not Vgreater than one-half the second and third dimensions of the article. The tube preferably is provided with a planar diagonal panel. adjacent sides is cut out symmetrically of the ends of the tube for a distance equal to the first dimension whereby the article may nest in the cut-out section of .the tube and diagonal panel to bear against the inside surface of the two sides of the tube opposite the cut-out and against the cut-out portion of the end sections of The diagonal panel together with ytwo p of the tube.

WCC v the end sections and are foldable into planes normal to the axis of the Vtube to provide increased supporting surface area in the direction of the axis of the tube.

In a further aspect of the invention a section of the tube is formed by slit scoring the tube along the length of two sides at lines parallel to the ends of the tube and spaced a distance equal to the trst dimension of the article. The diagonal planar element of the tube similarly is slit scored along a line parallel to the ends of thetube to form a ap which is foldable into the corner There is provided in the slit score itself a support surface to withstand forces along the axis of the tube on the foldable members formed from the tube sides of the tube.

In a still further aspect of the invention notches or grooves are provided along the inside of the tube oppo- `site to the cut-out section and in the same plane as the foldable flaps-to receive the edges of the flaps and thereby provide support thereof' in the direction of the axis of the tube.

In still a further aspect of the invention supporting inserts may be provided in the ends of the tubes of length equal the distance from the end of the tube to the cut-out section further to provide support for the aps in the direction of the axis of the tube.

In still a further aspect of the invention there is provided a rectangular tubular element of corrugated fiberboard for providing support for four sides of a rectangular article in which two sides of the tubular element are cut out symmetrically of the ends thereof to provide a window. The edges of the window parallel to the ends of the tube are provided with inwardly depending aps hinged at the said edges and extending into the tube not beyond a diagonal extending across the tube at the extremities of the window. A second tubular element of triangular shape and configuration adapted to nest in the first tubeis provided with a window across the diagonal portion thereof which is in alignment with the Window in the sides of the rectangular tube. Preferably the diagonal is provided with inwardly depending flaps Whose edges bear against the opposite sides thereof. A corner cushion is thus provided having a multilayer side area for supporting the edges of a stack of glass plates. The edges of the windows form supports for the faces of the stack in the direction of the axis of the tube.

In still a further aspect of the invention there is provided a packaging system for an article of rectangular hexahedron configuration in which a corner saddle is provided for each of four corners of a iiberboard container having a wall thickness along the sides thereof equal to one-half the difference between the dimension of the plate and the dimension of the container, each corner saddle having a central window through adjacent sides and of dimension along the length of the tube equal to the thickness of the article with inwardly depending aps which are edge supported for bearing against opposed faces of the article adjacent each of the four corners and for spacing said faces from the walls of said container.

For further objects and advantages of the invention reference may now be had from the .following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings i11 which:

Fig. 1 is a rectangular panel stamped and embossed for folding to form a corner cushion. Fig. 2 is an isometric view of the panel of. Fig. l

"line'4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 illustrates a preferred form of panel for forming a corner saddle.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along the lines 10'-10 of Fig. 10. f

Fig. 7 is a further modification of the invention.

Fig. 8 is a modified form of stock panel.

Fig. 9 is an isometric view showing the panel of Fig. 8 partially folded.

Fig. 10 is an isometric view of the panel of Fig. 8 completely folded to form a corner cushion.

Fig. 11 illustrates a further modification of the invention, and

Fig. 12 illustrates a stack of glass sheets supported by four rectangular corner cushions in a berboard container.

Referring now to Fig. l there is illustrated an elongated rectangular sheet 10 of corrugated berboard which is embossed as by stamping or pressing along lines which are perpendicular to the length thereof, as for example, along lines 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18. By this means the sheet 10 is divided into a number of panels. In a preferred embodiment of the invention nine panels are employed although it will be understood from the following description that for some applications less than nine panels may be sucient The panels 2), 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27 and 2S are generally of the same dimension whereas panel 26 is of the order of 1.4 times the length of the other panels. In actual practice panel 25 will exceed panel 28 in Width by about twice the thickness of the fiberboard sheet 10. Similarly panel 24 will exceed panel 27 in width by twice the thickness of the iiberboard panel 10; Panels 22, 23, 24 and 25 will be the same Width. Panel 21 preferably will exceed panel 22 in width by twice the thickness of the berboard panel 10. Finally panel 20 will exceed panel 22 in width by a single thickness of the panel 10. Such gradations in width of panels 20-25, 27 and 28 permits the sheet 10 to be folded to forma multilayer tube with the panel 26 forming a diagonal across the tube.

More particularly as shown in Fig. 2 the panels' 28 and 27 are bent at right angles to each other and the panel 26 is folded thereacross along the diagonal so that there is formed' a tubelike element of substantially right triangle configuration. The panel 25 is then folded parallel with respect to panel 28, and panel 24 extends parallel with respect to panel 27.

Referring now to Fig. 3 it will be seen that panels 23 and 22 are folded at right angles to each other and to side 24. Panels 21 and 20 respectively fold around and bear against panels 25 and 24. The rectangular tube thus formed has two sides of three thicknesses of the corrugated fiberboard sheet 10. There is also provided a diagonal planar panel of single thickness, and two sides formed by panels 22 and 23 of single thickness.

Referring again to Fig. l it will be seen that panels 22 andV 23 are cut out preferably along the solid line 30 to form four triangular aps 31, 32, 33, and 34 which flaps are foldable along lines 35 and 36 and each having an apex of 90. Preferably in accordance with the modication of Fig. l the corrugated panel 10 is slit scored along lines 35 and 36 to facilitate the bending of the iiaps 31 34. The lines 35 and 36 are dotted to'indicate the slit score on theopposite side of the panel 10;

Similarly the panel 26 is cut outalong the outline'40 to form two flaps 41 and 42 which are bendable along lines 43 and 44. The edges of flaps 41 and 42. intersect at an angle of 90. The panel 10 isfpreferablyv slit scored along lines 43 and 44, shown dotted to indicate the slit score on the opposite side of the panel is viewed in Fig. l.

Further the panels 27 and 2d are provided with notches or grooves 45 and 46 which are formed along extensions oflines 43 and 44. t

Referring now to Fig. 2 flaps 41 and'42 have been folded into the corner formed by panels 27 and 28. Preferably flaps 41 and 42 are made slightly oversize so that the edges thereof snap into the grooves 45 and 46. In Fig. 2 the slit score along line 44 is evident, the edges of the corrugated material that is scored forming a right angle at point 50.

Referring now to Fig. 3 it will be seen that flaps 31 and 32 are folded into the tube and rest against the slit score along line 43. Similarly flaps 34 and 33 are folded into the tube with their edges resting on the end of panel 26 at line 44. The tubular configuration may be maintained by suitable fastening means as for example a short strip of adhesive tape 51. Alternatively staples may be employed or self-locking features may be embodied in the berboard panel itself.

Referring now to Fig. 4 which is a sectional view of the bottom portion of the tube Fig. 3, it will be seen that the flap 42 is hinged at line 52 has its outer edge nested in groove 46. The outer edge of ap 34 rests upon the end of the panel 26. along the slit score of lineV 44. Thus with the corner saddle or support formed as shown in Fig. 3 the edges thereof will rest against the inside of panels 27 and 28. Panel 27 is backed by panels 24 and 20. Similarly panel 28 is backed by panels 25 and 21. The faces of the article to be packaged or supported which are parallel to the planes of the ends of the tube will be supported, as best shown in Fig. 4 by the short lengths of panels 23 and 26 together with the aps 34 and 42.

That large contact area is provided for four sides of aV given article will readily be apparent. The protection provided for the article will be dependent upon the bulk of material between the sides of the article and an associated container.

The berboard material employed in Fig. 4 comprises two corrugation elements60 and 61 having outer wall layers 62 and 63 and a common central layer 64. The particular material employed will be chosen in dependence upon the performance requirements of a given type container. For use in the packaging of stacks of plate glass window panes, for example, it has been found preferably to use single layer of corrugated material having outer layers of ber paper. To employ such corrugatedV berboard and yet to provide the necessary or desirable protection at the outer walls of the supporting tube or cushion and still further to facilitate fabrication the tubeis, formed from a sheet of corrugated fiberboard such as shown in Fig. 5.

v Referring to Fig. 5 the panel 70 is made the same length as panel 10, Fig. l, but is twice as wide. It is embossed at lines 71,v 72, 73', 74, 75, 76, 77 and 78, similar to the panel of Fig. 1. However, it is also embossed along a line 79 whichlongitudinally bisects the panel 70. In this modificationl of the invention the panel is cut out along the lines`80 and 81 to form openings having flaps along the edges thereof. In addition the panel is cut out to form rectangular openingsV 82 and 83. Further, grooves 84 and 85 may be formed in panels 86 and 87 corresponding with grooves 45 and 46, Fig. l.

The panel 70 is then formed into a rectangular tube with a diagonal planar panel substantially the same in Fig. lY except that the first stepv is to fold the panel 70' along line 79. The solid lines 90, 91, 92 and 93 indicate atslit scoreon the. face of, panel 70 viewed in Fig. 5. Further both. grooves 84' and 85 are inthe Vupper face. Thus itwill be seen in this embodiment of the invention `all work, embossing, slit scoring, and cut out may be performed from one side of the panelV which greatly facilitatesv operations in the fabrication of the unit.

With the. upper half of the panel 70 folded backwards or away fromV the plane of the sheet as viewed in Fig. 5 v

rectangular openingsV 82 and 83 provide. direct support for theflaps when assembled. It has been found that not onlyl does this modification of the invention permit more ready fabrication, but that greater strength and resistance to rough handling may be incorporated in the cushion.

It is to be understood that the lateral' dimension S, Fig. 5 of the openings made in the panel and thus the dimension S of the window in the tube of Fig. 3 will correspond with the height with the stack of the stack of plate glass to be packaged. It is recognized that in some instances the stack may be so short that the flaps 31--34 and 41-42, when folded, will not completely iillrthe ends of the tube. In any case the maximum material available for a given sized window will be employed as iiaps for end supports. For example, in Fig. 7 a shorter window has been shown. The dirnension S is so short relative to the length L of the sides of the tube that the flaps b-102 do not extend to the corner 106 but rather are in the form of truncated right triangle whose height is equal to 1/2 S. Nevertheless the edges of the iiaps 100 and 101 may rest upon slit scored edges of the diagonal element and iiap 102 registers in suitable notches such as notches 45 and 46, Fig. l,

along the sides.

Figs. 8, 9v and l0 illustrate a further modification of the invention in which slit scoring for the flap elements is eliminated. Rather in this modification lines 110- 111, 112 and 113 are merely embossed so that the depending flaps merely are .bent along such embossed lines; This embodiment of the invention shown partially folded in Fig. 9 and completely folded in the form of a tube in Fig. 10 may be adequate'for some applications. However, additional bearing supports for the depending flaps may be necessary, for example, as to provide the required strength in the direction parallel to the length of the tube. For this purpose triangular shaped ller blocks 114, 115, 116, 117, Fig. 10, may be secured to the triangular wells in the ends of tube 118. As shown in the sectional view of Fig. 6 blocks 116 and 117 support flaps 119 and 120 respectively. While wooden fil'ler blocks have been shown in Figs. 6 and l-O, it will be apparent that stacks or rolls of berboard may also be used for resisting unusually large forces which may be developed along the axis of the tube. However, it has been found that in most applications, such reinforcing in an axial direction is not necessary.

A form of construction is illustrated in Fig. 11 which may be applicable to any of the modifications above described. As shown in Fig. l1, the corner saddle is formed in two separate elements. The first element is a rectangular tube 120 which, in this modification, is adapted to support relatively short stacks of glass or a relatively thin article. Tube 120 may be formed from a iiberboard panel corresponding in length to the combined lengths of sections 21, 22, 23 and 24 of Fig. 1.

An innerv tube in the form of a right triangle may be formed from a iiberboard panel corresponding with 6 each of four corners. This modification of the invention illustrates the adaptability of applicants corner saddle where a stack of plates of unusual dimension may present such a load as to require greater supporting means for forces in' the direction of the axis of the tube than is possible using a square tube configuration such as shown in the Figs. 1-11. Thereis no great problem in opposing forces normal to the axis of the tube since substantially all of the edge of each sheet of glass bears against the iiat side of a corner saddle. However, the rectangular tubes 1-42--145 permit a maximum area for contact with the faces of the glass plates. The length of the respective panels 24, 25, 26,27 and 28 of Fig. 5. The two separate tubes may thus be adapted for convenient fabrication and yet when the triangular tube 121 is nested inthe rectangular tube 120 the principal features of applicants invention are present. A plurality of thicknesses 122, 123, 124 are present along one side and 125, 126 and 127 along the other side to support the edge of the article; aps 130, 131 and 132 together with the supporting columns 133, 134 and 135 provide bearing surface in the direction of the axis of tubes 120 and 121; diagonal edges v136 and 137 will be supported by the upper edge 138 of corner cushions 142, 143, 144 and 145 supporting the vstack 140 and maintaining the stack spaced from the walls of container 141. A maximum of bearing surface v is provided for vcontact with four sides of the stack at sub-panels is limited bythe length and width of the plates. Y

Thus adequate protection in shipping, handling and storage is provided for frangible plates of substantial thicknes'sand of rectangular configuration whether single thickness or a stack of considerable height,.formed from separate plates. Further, it wil=l be understood that corner supporting means may be provided for articles of quite different shape.V For example, a stack of glass plates of hexagonal configuration may be accommodated by forming a corner` saddle in which the angle X of Fig. l0, for example, is 120,c instead of with the other side panels suitably dimensioned.

Thus there is provided a corner support formed from an elongated i'iberboard sheet adapted to be folded transversely of the length thereof at a plurality of points to form a plurality of panels, preferably at least seven in number. Five of the panels which are contiguous one to another and located intermediate the end panels are of dimensions such that the first four of the iive intermediate panels are the same as the dimensions of the end panels. However, the fifth of the five intermediate panels has a width approximately 1.43 times the width of the end panels. Central windows or rectangular openings are formed in each of the iirst, second and fifth of the five intermediatepanels and extend the full width thereof. Triangular aps are secured to or are otherwise dependent from the edges of each of the windows which are perpendicular to the transverse fold lines in the fiberboard sheet. Preferably the edges of the iiaps subtend an ang'le of 90 opposite the edges of the windows. When formed into a tube, two sides thereof and the diagonal panel formed by the fifth of the tive intermediate panels have an opening into which an article to be packaged may be nested. The flaps when folded into planes paralllel to the ends of the tube provide supporting areas for opposite faces of the article to be packaged. Insert means may be provided for the ends of the tubes for providing further support for the flaps to oppose forces directed axially along the tube.

While the invention has been described in connection with specic modifications thereof it will be understood that further modications may now suggest themselves to those skilled in the art and it is intended to cover such modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An elongated iiberboard sheet adapted to be folded transversely of the length thereof at a plurality of points to form at least seven panels with tive panels intermediate the end panels such that the rst four of said iive panels are of approximately the same dimensions as said end panels and the fifth of said five panels is of width approximately 1.43 times the width of said end panels, the first, second and fifth of said ive panels each having a rectangular window therein of width equal the width of each said panel and having triangular flaps dependable and foldable from the top and bottom of each window.

2. The combination set forth in claim l in which the sides of said iiaps subtend an angle of 90 and the hypotenuse of each triangular ap is joined to the top or bottom edge of and is of substantially the same length as the width of one of said windows.

3. A berboard sheet adapted to be folded along linesY transverse to the length thereof at a plurality of spaced points and adapted to be folded along one medial line parallel to the length thereof to form at least seven pairs of panels with the rst four of iive pairs of said panels which are located contiguously one to another and intermediate the end pairs of panels having approximately the same dimensions as said end panels and the fifth of saidvepairs having a Width approximately 1.43 times the Width of said end panels, the panels of the rst, second and fifth pair of said iive pairs of panels each having a rectangular Window which extends the full width thereof intermediate said medial line and the edges of said sheet with triangular aps supported at each of the edges of the Windows which are parallel to and on one side of said medial line. 5

4.` The combination set forth in claim 3 in which said transverse lines and medial line are embossed on one facetof said sheet and said flaps are formed from portions of said sheet Within the bounds of said Windows and slit scored at the surface of said one face of said sheet along the supporting edges of said Windows.

5. The combination set forth in claim 3 in which saidv transverse and medial linesV are embossed Von one faceof saidsheet, said flaps are formed from the portions of` said sheet within the bounds of said Windows and only partially/severed from said sheet by slit scoring said face 1 along the supporting edges of said Windows, andgrooves formed in said face of said sheetv along lines extendingv References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Y 2,000,158 B1ack`eta1 May 7,1935 2,256,995 Andres a Sept. 23, 19411 2,507,929 Pennebaker May 16, 1950 2,750,032 `Laird June 12, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 79,762 Norway g Feb. 18, 1952W 471,136 

